ASVA recognises excellent visitor experience provided by the Highland Folk Museum

Issued by ASVA (Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions)

Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore has won the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions “Best Visitor Experience” Award 2010, sponsored by The Royal Yacht Britannia.  Recognising excellence in visitor experience among ASVA member organisations, the awards were presented at ASVA’s ‘Unlocking Your Assets’ conference at the Westerwood Hotel near Glasgow on 11th November.

Entries for the award were received from visitor attractions across Scotland, all of who were then visited by members of Britannia’s management team to see if they were delivering what they promised in their entry forms.  Following this, a shortlist of 3 attractions was drawn up.  The 3 finalists, which also included Macduff Marine Aquarium and Skara Brae, were then visited by Bob Downie, Chief Executive of The Royal Yacht Britannia, a senior member of the VisitScotland Quality Assurance team and an ASVA Board Member.

Entries were assessed on all aspects of the layout and content of the attraction and on the ‘experience’ offered, in particular the quality of interaction between staff and visitors.

Commenting on Highland Folk Museum’s win, Chairman of the judges Bob Downie said: "The Highland Folk Museum offers an outstanding visitor experience, through its high quality of knowledgeable and friendly staff, and well thought through and authentic interpretation of bygone life in rural Scotland. It is a tribute to the vision of its founder, and I recommend that everyone with an interest in best practice take the time to appreciate what they have done on a limited budget."       

Bob Powell, Principal Museums Officer for Highland Council commented: “We passionately believe that our museum staff are our greatest asset, closely followed by the wonderful buildings we look after and proudly show to visitors.

“Visitors often comment that they can tell immediately that the staff enjoy their work, but more importantly that they are proud of the Museum. Our staff are great ambassadors and we are very lucky to have such a strong workforce, especially as this is seasonal employment.  Some of our Heritage Attendants have worked with us for as many as 16-18 seasons, sharing their infectious enthusiasm and knowledge with visitors from across the globe."   

Presenting the awards, ASVA Chairman Andrew Johnson said: "This was an outstanding application, with staff at the museum really striving to ‘go the extra mile’ in order to give visitors a truly great experience."

In recognition of the win, the Highland Folk Museum wins one day’s free consultancy advice from Colin Shaw, top business consultant, international speaker, and founder of Beyond Philosophy, the world's thought leaders in customer experience.

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